Bo and the Beast (Book #1) (Completed)

42. A Battle

Hours passed, and the sun slipped steadily toward the horizon. As the shadows lengthened, Bo glanced at her fire and saw that the fuel was nearly gone. It was mostly embers, which still kept some of the wolves wary. She didn't know how long that would last, though. All she could do was toss what twigs were around her into the fire as the light grew murky and thick the longer she sat there.

She wasn't sure how long she'd last once the sun dipped below the horizon. There were already at least two dozen wolves waiting in the shadows around where she'd set up camp, but as the night crept closer she knew more would join them. The young, the sick, and other packs drawn to the noise. They'd all be upon her, and she knew for a fact that her fire and ammunition would not last until dawn. She had to figure some way of getting out of here before the sun completely disappeared.

The final rays of light clung to the smooth sides of the trees as Bo closed her eyes and tried to convince herself that she could reach her hopper before the wolves standing by it could catch her. She was fast, she'd trained for this. Just jump on the hopper, start it up with one quick flick of her wrist, and she could dodge the wolves or plow down those that got in her way. It wouldn't be hard. What could be hard about that? She nodded her head, letting out a long breath. Easy as falling off a log. Right?

Her eyes flashed open to see the wolf pack had pushed forward in the murky gloom of dusk. She snarled at them and took a few shots, scattering them. And then...

She ran. Just flat out ran, didn't even waste her precious seconds looking around. Her feet pounded against the hard dirt and she spun to avoid a lunging wolf as she approached her hopper only a few feet away. She felt the heat of the animal's pelt on the backs of her legs, but she couldn't afford to risk a backward glance. The wolves in front of her seemed a bit confused at her headlong trajectory in their direction, but that would be short lived. None of them were more than a few feet from her hopper, which meant one good lunge from them and she could be torn into pieces before she even had the engine running.

She flung her leg over the seat of the hopper, reaching for the handlebars. The engine roared to life and she nudged the kickstand up as she pushed herself into a forward roll. All of the wolves, drawn by the noise, circled around her, howling and yapping and snapping their jaws shut just inches from her boots.

Wolves scattered as she pushed her way through them and toward the darkness beyond the flickering embers of the dying fire. The wolves followed her, their breath loud on her tail. She could only hope that their starvation made them too weak to keep up with her for very long.

She was just rounding around a large stump, right on the edge of the light's perimeter, when she felt her hopper jerk. The handlebars snatched around, left and right, and the engine whirred as her balance was destroyed. The hopper crashed to the ground, scraping Bo's leg along the ground. Ringing filled her ears, but she forced herself to stand up, wincing as her leg throbbed. She didn't pay attention to it, though, and whipped around to face behind her. She only had a second to see the corpse of a wolf that had somehow flung itself under her hopper and caused the crash, and then another second where she got one shot off at the approaching stampede of gray fur.

A heavy mass slammed into Bo, knocking her straight to the ground where she struggled to get her arm between her face and a pair of snapping jaws. Teeth clamped down into her forearm, but she didn't even have time to scream as she felt another wolf snatch her leg and yank her a few inches across the ground. Damp breath, hot drool, and the smell of rot surrounded her face as teeth snicked shut just inches from the side of her skull.

Gray fur filled her vision, the musk of wild animal filling her nose. She gagged, but as she opened her mouth a slimy batch of burning drool slid onto her tongue. She snapped her mouth shut, fighting not to throw up. The wolf struggled to reach her past her arm, but she managed to just keep it at bay. Her strength wouldn't last forever, and the other wolves were already pressing in on her.

Her mind raced as all her senses registered just wolf. Taste, smell, sight, touch—nothing was spared from the vicious animals as they descended on their first fresh meal in weeks.

Just as her arm was quaking in the wolf's jaw and she thought her body might fail her, she sensed vibrations in the ground a few feet away. It was a strange whirring, as if someone was running a generator. It rumbled and sent dust clouds into the air to grit up Bo's already blocked vision. The wolves that weren't directly on top of her darted away, suddenly skittish, and a small break in the wall of gray fur opened up.

What Bo saw was something she never thought she'd be thankful for.

The Beast materialized through a hazy mist, coming into existence only ten feet away. His eyes scanned the area for a brief second before his long fangs glinted in what was left of the camp fire. Before the wolves could react to this new threat, the Beast launched forward on all-fours, landing in the middle of the pack. Bo saw little else as the wolf on top of her shook its head with her arm still in its jaw, but she heard that heart-stopping battle cry of pure aggression that brought back dark memories of a war she'd rather forget.

Tears leapt to her eyes as the Beast's roar vibrated in her ears, and the sound of the wolves yipping and screeching as he ripped into them. A sudden burst of panic fueled her limbs enough that she got her feet underneath the animal pinning her and kicked it off. The teeth tore free of her arm and she rolled upward, scrambling toward a nearby tree and clutching its trunk to keep herself upright as tremors shook her body.

Pressed against the smooth wood, Bo watched the terror of the Beast of Lyx amongst the wolves. It was hard to tell alien from animal, as they both fought with blind rage. The wolves worked together, attacking from any direction that the Beast could not protect against. Even with piles of the animals on his back, though, the Beast still fought, his hands and face covered in slick blood as he ripped out a throat with his fangs and tossed a wolf twenty feet into a tree beyond the circle of firelight.

For a moment, she saw only the creature she had witnessed in the display screen. The Beast of Lyx, as animalistic as the wolves. It was just as unsettling as it had been before, to see him with no intelligence or feeling. It was as if the person she remembered had suddenly turned into a killing machine.

But then a second later, he turned to face her and she saw he wasn't that product of war anymore. His eyes were filled with panic and worry, not bloodlust.

"Get inside!" he shouted at her, just before a wolf knocked him a few feet backward.

Bo spun to face the direction that she remembered the Beast appearing from, but as she groped for the invisible wall, her conscience flared. She faltered, glancing over her shoulder at the battle still raging. As it was, the Beast held the pack off fairly well, but she knew that he couldn't last forever that badly outnumbered. If he didn't get out soon, even with his alien strength and training, the pack would overwhelm him.

Bo groaned in frustration at her stupid soft heart and spun back around to face the Beast. She drew her pistols and fired into the fray, trusting her aim and praying the Beast wouldn't end up in the path of her bullets.

Wolves fell away from the Beast, their dead bodies smashing into those that blocked the Beast's path. For a moment, he was free from any wolves jumping on his back, and Bo took the opportunity to launch forward and grab his hand. The slight electrical current pulsed from his skin to hers as their palms came together, and Bo hauled him with her into the forcefield.